Czech Republic Euro 2008 Sports Betting Preview

Euro 2008 odds makers have taken no chances with the Czech Republic and neither will the competition this summer. The Czechs have a strong recent history in the European Championships but can they make the cut in 2008?

The Czech Republic is appearing in its fourth consecutive European Championships Finals, a run that stretches back to Euro ’96, when the Czechs lost the final to Germany. The Czech’s have won the competition in the past, as part of the former state of Czechoslovakia that beat West Germany in a penalty shoot-out in the final of 1976. Not only was that the last time Germany lost a penalty shootout, it is also the last time the Germans missed a penalty in a shootout.

The Czech’s have a justified reputation for playing cultured, attacking football, one perhaps set by that penalty shootout thirty-two years ago when Antonín Panenka audaciously chipped the German goalkeeper Sepp Maier for the final penalty. Flying winger Karol Poborsky set the tone for 1996, while the current talisman is captain Tomáš Rosický. The news that injury now makes Rosický a doubt for the finals is a hammer blow for the Czechs, and demotes them from possible title contenders to a team that will do well to qualify from its group. Czech Republic’s odds to win Euro 2008 certainly drifted with the news of Rosický.

In the absence of midfielder Rosický, the weight of the Czech hopes rest on the considerable shoulders of towering striker Jan Koller. Koller’s sheer bulk means that he isn’t the silkiest of finishers, but a strike rate of fifty-two goals from eighty-five international caps testifies to Koller’s effectiveness as a match-winner. If the Czechs are to make any progress in Euro 2008 they need Koller to make his presence felt in the penalty box.